FORESTS AND WATER Current and Future Issues in Pennsylvania

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FORESTS AND WATERCurrent and Future Issues in
Pennsylvania

• Dr. David R. DeWalle
• Professor of Forest Hydrology
• School of Forest Resources
• Penn State
• Presentation at Seventh Goddard Forum
• Pennsylvanias Third Forest
• January 29-30, 2007
• Penn State

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Basic Premises

• Forest cover over entire watersheds or as
  riparian buffer zones helps to prevent erosion,
  prevent flooding, maintain low flows and
  groundwater recharge and protect water quality.
• We are dependent upon the existence and health of
  forested watersheds and riparian forests to help
  maintain water quantity and quality more than
  ever in the history of our state for water supply
  and aquatic ecosystem maintenance.
• Forest management as currently practiced in PA
  generally does not cause any major or long-term
  water quantity or quality problems.

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HYDROLOGIC IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS IN PA

• Forests cover about 62 of Pennsylvanias land
  area, mostly in the uplands.
• Across PA we have 273 active community water
  supply systems that rely primarily on surface
  waters which depend upon forested uplands at
  least in part.
• PA residents spent 800 million in 2001 on
  fishing and boating in our surface waters which
  depend upon forested uplands at least in part.
• Forested buffers at least 100-ft wide exist along
  both banks of 57 of stream length within the PA
  portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

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Forest Watershed Issues

• Maintaining the health and hydrologic function of
  forested watersheds against the threats of
  atmospheric deposition, insects, disease, fire,
  climate change, etc.
• Protecting forested watersheds against impacts of
  development.
• Enhancing and protecting forested riparian zones.
  
• Monitoring and assessing the state of our forest
  water resources over time.

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Atmospheric Wet DepositionKane PA
Source National Atmospheric Deposition Program
for monitoring wet deposition
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Trends in Stream ChemistryLinn Run SW PA
Source D. DeWalle, Penn State EPA
Long-Term Monitoring Proj.
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Unexpected Stream Chemistry TrendsLinn Run SW PA
Source D. DeWalle, Penn State, EPA Long-Term
Monitoring Proj.
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Future Threat Mercury in Wet Deposition?
Source Lynch, Carrick, Horner and Grimm. 2005.
Mercury Deposition In Pennsylvania, 2005 Status
Report. Penn State, ERRI, Report to PA DEP.
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Land Use ChangesDelaware River BasinSource
Andrew Homsey, Instit. Public Admin., Water
Resources Agency, U. Del.
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Changes in Land Use in Sub-Basins of the
Delaware River Watershed1992-2001/2
Source Andrew Homsey, Instit. Public Admin.,
Water Resources Agency, Univ. Delaware
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Forest Buffer Zones
??
Source Chesapeake Bay Riparian Handbook, USDA,
Forest Service, NE State and Private
For., Palone and Todd (Eds.). 1998.
Source Riparian Forest Buffer, Conservation
Practice Fact Sheet No. 391, USDA, NRCS, 1997
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Stream Miles with Riparian Buffers Chesapeake Bay
Watershed
National Consortium for Rural Geospatial
Innovations-Chesapeake, Penn State
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Conclusions

• We are very dependent upon national monitoring
  programs for assessment of the status of water
  resources on our local forested watersheds. USGS
  and state gages and sampling concentrates on
  larger streams and watersheds and largely misses
  the forested uplands.
• Nitrogen and sulfur reductions in deposition can
  reduce acidification of watersheds, but decreases
  in nitrogen deposition appears to be causing
  other ecosystem changes on the Appalachian
  Plateau.
• The ubiquitous fish eating advisories for mercury
  and the extensive forest cover in PA suggests
  that the cycling of Hg in forests to streams and
  groundwater deserves further study
• Urban/suburban development in more highly
  populated regions such as the Delaware River
  basin is leading to significant losses of forest
  land.
• Status of riparian areas needs continuing
  assessment, now about 35 to 40of streams in the
  Susquehanna Basin have less than optimum buffer
  zones.